12 for 12: Top-flight champions

Nebraska's Ahman Green hurdles over teammate Fred Pollack and Texas A&M's Rich Coady, as the Aggies' Dat Nguyen closes in for the tackle during the 1997 Big 12 Championship at the Alamodome. Nebraska won 54-15.

Photo By David F. Martin/Associated Press

Oklahoma running back Quentin Griffin steps away from Florida State free safety Chris Hope for a touchdown as the Sooners defeated the Seminoles 13-2 in Miami to win the school's seventh football national title in 2001.

Photo By Dave Weaver/Associated Press

Texas' Huston Street (25) is met by teammates following their 12-6 win over South Carolina at the 2002 College World Series in Omaha, Neb. Street pitched 1 2-3 innings, allowing one hit and a walk.

The Big 12 cranked up in 1996 with the billing of a power conference, and the Dallas-based enterprise has lived up to its hype. The Big 12 owns 42 NCAA team national titles, including three in football. Track and field is the league’s top sport, with a dozen outdoor and indoor titles, including a half-dozen in the past three years by the Texas A&M men and women.

Express-News staff writer Brent Zwerneman looks at 12 national champions that helped make the Big 12 a true power in Part 10 of our weekly summer series of what the league accomplished in its first 15 seasons:

1997 Nebraska football

The Cornhuskers won a national title in only the league’s second year, helping the Big 12 get rolling in style. The coaches poll title also helped close out the venerable Tom Osborne’s career in grand fashion with his third national title in four years.

2000 Oklahoma softball

OU prevailed 3-1 over UCLA in Oklahoma City to give the school its first national title in a women’s sport. It remains the lone Big 12 softball title.

2000 Oklahoma football

In only Bob Stoops’ second season at OU, the Sooners defeated Florida State 13-2 in Miami to win the school’s seventh football national title. Quarterback Josh Heupel and linebacker Rocky Calmus claimed their spots in OU lore with All-American seasons.

2002 Texas baseball

Augie Garrido had arrived at UT in 1997 with three national titles, but fans were starting to wonder about his ability to win in Austin — all the way up until 2002. That’s when the Longhorns, led by pitchers Justin Simmons and Huston Street, earned the school’s first baseball title since 1983. UT added the school’s sixth title in 2005.

2004 Baylor men’s tennis

The Bears won the school’s first team national title with a 4-0 thumping of UCLA in the championship match in Tulsa, Okla. Baylor, led by Benedikt Dorsch and a host of other international players, finished 32-2 that season.

2005 Baylor women’s basketball

Feisty Kim Mulkey’s bunch, led by Sophia Young and Emily Niemann, ran roughshod over Michigan State 84-62 in the title game in Indianapolis. The Lady Bears earned the school’s first women’s national title.

2005 Texas football

In one of the most thrilling title games in history, Vince Young led the Longhorns to a 41-38 victory over Southern California in Pasadena, Calif. Young had finished second to Trojans running back Reggie Bush in the Heisman race but beat him where it counts most, on the scoreboard.

2006 Oklahoma State wrestling

The Cowboys won their fourth consecutive national title as Big 12 members, this time over Minnesota in Oklahoma City. OSU also won its whopping 34th national title in the sport and earned four straight for the first time since 1946 at “The University of Wrestling.”

2006 Nebraska volleyball

The Cornhuskers defeated Stanford in four games to claim the school’s third national title in the sport — and second as Big 12 members (2000). Nebraska remains the league’s only volleyball team to claim a national title while Big 12 members.

2008 Kansas basketball

For all of the talk about the Big 12 being a basketball power, the league hadn’t claimed a national title until the Jayhawks defeated Memphis 75-68 in overtime in the Alamodome. Mario Chalmers staked his claim as KU legend by sinking a game-tying 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds remaining in regulation.

2011 Texas A&M women’s basketball

Gary Blair had long been called folksy, but this year he added another description: national champion. The upstart Aggies, led by Sydney Colson and Danielle Adams, defeated Notre Dame 76-70 in Indianapolis to claim the school’s first national title in the sport.

2011 Texas A&M track & field

Renowned coach Pat Henry pulled off an unprecedented NCAA feat this past June: His men’s and women’s outdoor teams won their third consecutive national title — each. A&M, a school that had never won a national championship in the sport prior to Henry’s arrival, has won six outdoor titles in the past three years.